


The Cat's Meow

by AsagiStilinski



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Miraculous Ladybug Fusion, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Bad Puns, Boss/Employee Relationship, Brainwashing, Canon Alterations, Canon-Typical Violence, Cat Puns, Crime Fighting, Crossover, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Friends to Lovers, Humor, Injury, Inspired by Miraculous Ladybug, Kiss or Die, M/M, Magical girl transformation, Mind Control, Minor Violence, Miraculous Ladybug Love Square, Partners to Lovers, Puns & Word Play, Secret Identity, Secret Identity Fail, Superheroes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-27
Updated: 2019-05-27
Packaged: 2020-03-20 15:35:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18995509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsagiStilinski/pseuds/AsagiStilinski
Summary: Seto Kaiba is the holder of the Ladybug Miraculous, he holds the power of Creation and uses his magic yoyo to fight crime alongside his partner Chat Noir, between running his own company, protecting the city, and trying to hide the crush he has on his assistant Atem, he really doesn't have time for anything else, like, you know, personal relationships...Atem is the holder of the Cat Miraculous, he holds the power of Destruction and uses his staff and claws to fight crime alongside his partner Ladybug, between assisting the richest man in Japan, protecting the city, and not evenattemptingto hide his crush on Ladybug, he really doesn't have time for anything else, like, you know, getting brainwashed...All of that, however, is about to change with one little Akuma...





	The Cat's Meow

**Author's Note:**

> For Prompt Monday- "Farewell"
> 
> I happened to be watching Miraculous Ladybug when I was thinking about this theme and the constant farewells between Ladybug and Chat Noir made me ... _think_...
> 
> Note: I am not up to date with Ladybug past major spoilers, so there's probably some lore that I got wrong but just go with it, I tried xD I also just ... made up my own shit for the tiger miraculous *shrug* Also yes the "marionette"/"Marinette" pun is 100% intentional
> 
>  **Note: If you are unfamiliar with Ladybug, I HIGHLY recommend reading the lore guide in the last bit of the author's notes before reading the fic, otherwise it can get quite confusing!** Thank you to Venom for telling me that <3

Their relationship seemed to be defined by "farewells"

_Farewell_

_Goodbye_

_Sayonara_

One very memorable _"fuck off"_...

The point was, since the moment they met, the duo's relationship was defined by goodbyes just as much as it was by hellos

"Chat Noir, pay attention!!"

Blinking hurriedly, Atem's face turned red and he quickly turned his focus away from his partner and back to the dozens of wasp-like drones that were currently terrorizing the city

Damn... he really did need to get a grip on that....

"Sorry Bugaboo, but can anyone really blame me when M'Lady is so breath-takingly beautifull?"

A smooth pick-up line should correct this problem, he figured, bringing his long metal staff down on top of one of the drones and successfully cracking the thing in half

He could hear Ladybug scoff from behind him, but Atem could only snicker at the response

"First, for the last time, stop calling me _both_ of those rediculous nicknames, and second, I can _absolutely_ blame you for putting our lives at risk because you're too busy staring at me! _Regardless_ of my so-called 'beauty',"

"Awww, what do you mean 'so-called'? Is that meant to imply that M'Lady lacks confidence in his stunningly good looks?"

Another scoff, another drone destroyed, this was going rather well

"Gee, wouldn't you have to know what I look like under all these spots in order to determine if I have 'stunningly good looks'? To my knowledge, you have no _idea_ what I look like,"

To be fair, he wasn't _entirely_ wrong, both of their suits were full-body and they had masks covering the top part of their faces, the only things visible at all that weren't covered by spandex or leather were their hair, eyes, and jaws...

Ladybug could look like nearly anything or anyone and Atem would have virtually no idea it was him

"What? I can't judge your beauty by how well you pull off that suit?" he asked as he jumped up onto the railing beside him and smacked two drones down at once

He had to admit, as villains go, this guy was pretty lame....

That was good though, he'd prefer not to be challenged when he was having a... _distraction day_

"Absolutely not," Ladybug huffed from where he was standing behind Atem, using a flag pole that he had torn out of the ground to swat down another drone

"Wow, that actually hurts my feelings,"

"Too bad Grumpy Cat, now _focus_ so I can get rid of these things!"

Atem huffed, but he knew that his partner was right

"As you wish M'Lady,"

He may not have been able to see Ladybug currently- what with the onslaught of drones he was currently trying to bat out of the sky, but he was pretty sure his partner was rolling his eyes like he usually did

He had to admire Ladybug's seriousness about their job

Not to say that Atem didn't take it seriously, but he didn't see why he couldn't have a little fun with this too

He was a superhero for fuck's sake, he should be able to enjoy that!

_"Lucky Charm!!"_

Aw... he was missing the best part...

"Alright you spies in the skies, I'm done playing around!"

Backflipping off of the railing of the roof, he took a power stance, inhaling and raising his black-gloved hand up to the sky

"CATACLYSM!"

Black swirls and bubbles of energy began to rush around his hand, power flowing through him from the tips of his fingers all the way down through his wrist

He loved this feeling, the immense satisfaction of pure, raw, _power_ rushing through his veins

...

Too bad he could only use it once per transformation

Running forward, he jumped onto the railing and catapulted himself into the air, bringing his claws down the army of drones in front of him and watching in glee as they all crumbled up and turned to dust

_Perfect_

_"Chat Noir!!!"_

Much to his surprise, his partner's yoyo was suddenly tossed down in front of him as he fell through the air, dropping lower and lower....

_"Grab it dumbass!!"_

Smirking, he wrapped his hand around the base of the yoyo, gasping quietly as the device was suddenly yanked upwards, and in a single swish, he found himself landing on the roof, wincing a little at the sudden pain in his back

"Aww, you saved me!!"

Clearly irritated, Ladybug jerked the yoyo away... only to toss the hard end at Atem's head

"Ow! Hey, I'm not-!"

"What were you thinking!? You could have died!! Gods... why are you so reckless!?"

"Well I _am_ the power of destruction personified," Atem muttered back, rubbing his sore head as he slowly climbed to his feet

"Wich is _EXACTLY_ why you should be more carefull!!"

" _And_ I had a smooth landing in place,"

That actually made Ladybug quiet, though he looked rather skeptical

"Oh? What, landing on your feet?"

"Actually..... landing on the bouncy house below us," Atem smirked back, pointing past the rail to the carnival going on below

Ladybug hesitantly glanced over, noting the rather massive bouncy house, before huffing and winding his yoyo back up to strap around his waist where it belonged

"Unnecessary risk, if you had just waited a moment I would have had it taken care of on my own and you wouldn't have had to use your powers at all,"

"You know, perhaps I make it look too easy, but weilding that staff around is pretty pain-staking, forgive me for wanting a break from it," he huffed back teasingly, but Ladybug didn't look amused- and not in the blase` eye-rolling way he usually looked unamused, he actually seemed serious

...

Was... Ladybug really concerned about him...?

They had never really talked about it, or ever even decided consciously to be partners, they had always just showed up at the same problems at the same time and ... things happened

But-

"If that's all Hawkmoth has to offer today, he's losing his touch,"

Ah, moment was gone, Ladybug had turned on his heel and started walking along the railing

Good, Atem would follow

"Absolutely, but that's a good thing right? That means maybe we can finally stop him and just... start defeating normal criminals like theives and murderers?"

"Somehow I doubt that," Ladybug huffed back, pulling his yoyo from his waist again

Oh no, no he was leaving.... not yet... not-

"Hey Ladybug, since we had such an easy time today and didn't have to spend _nearly_ the amount of time we usually would have to defeat a villain, I'll bet you we both still have some time before we transform back, sooooo... do you want to grab a bite to eat?"

"Can't, I have to go back to work,"

That was always what he said....

Atem was really starting to wonder what this damn job of his was that he seemed to work day and night without ever taking a lunchbreak

"Oh come on! Just ... one bite? A saucer of milk?" he teased, knowing the cat joke would be endearing

And for his credit, Ladybug actually did look a little regretfull

"Work, but I'll see you the next time Domino needs saving,"

And with that, he tossed his yoyo towards the flagpole of the next building over and jumped off of the roof, swinging about like Spiderman as Atem rushed to the edge of the roof and peered down to watch him

"I'm looking forward to it Bugaboo!!!!" he shouted as loudly as he could, watching in amusement as Ladybug flipped him off before disappearing somewhere between the many buildings of the city

Atem heaved a long, sad sigh, and slowly dropped down to sit on the edge of the roof

He should probably go back to work himself, he didn't want Kaiba to think he was slacking off or anything, but...

On the other hand, he felt so depressed.... and Kaiba was perceptive, if he went back to work like this he would know something was wrong and push Atem for an answer

He should take a bit of a break, try to recollect his thoughts...

_"Ooh!! Chat Noir!"_

_"Look, it's really him! The hero of Japan!"_

_"He's so cute!!"_

Peering over the edge of the roof, Atem waved politely to the fans below, hearing the squeals of delight from the little gathering of fangirls

_"Chat Noir!! Can we get a picture?! Please!!?!"_

Well... maybe a little attention would make him feel better

"I'll be right down!" he promised, waving again and stepping off of the roof, he was going to take the stairs but....

On second thought...

Smirking to himself, he ran off the edge of the room and stretched out, arms behind his head so he could land all _casually_ on the bouncy house

If Ladybug wasn't going to stick around to keep him from making himself look cool, then there was no need to hold back, right?

(This is the thought process of an idiot in love- do not try this at home)

 

~+~

 

"I don't understand, why did you blow him off like that? You like him don't you?"

Sighing, Seto swung into the window of his office and quickly closed it, staring at the kwami in front of him and tensing his jaw

"I may be a superhero, but that doesn't negate the fact that I'm also an adult and I have to work,"

"You _also_ have to take a lunchbreak at _some point_ ,"

Sometimes, Seto really hated that there was no such thing as being truly alone anymore

Since receiving his powers, his Kwami- little bug like creatures that were more or less the living personas of the Miraculous objects granting aforementioned powers- was around day and night, a consequence to his always being on-call

Tikki was respectfull and mature, often minding her own business when her opinion was unwanted, but she did have the tendency to occasionally stick her nose in where it didn't belong...

His relationships were one of those areas

"I can eat here,"

"But Seto-"

"Tikki, spots off,"

He was trying not to pay any mind to the irritated look on her face as his super-suit slowly disintegrated, leaving him back in his typical business-casual clothes as he sat down in his office chair, no trace of superpowers upon him now

Well, except for the ear-rings, but those were next to go

"I know that you just don't want to get close to people because you're afraid of getting hurt, I understand, but Chat Noir would never hurt you! He _ADORES_ you, in case you haven't noticed,"

"Adoring someone doesn't prevent you from hurting them, and it's better for both of us if we _don't_ know eahcother's identities, it's safer, besides, as I said it has nothing to do with liking him or not and everything to do with work," he insisted, reaching up and carefully removing his ladybug stud earrings from his ears

Tikki crossed her arms over her chest, glaring at Seto, clearly about to argue, until someone came nocking on the door

Quickly, Seto shoved the earrings in his desk drawer, Tikki diving in alongside them, as he cleared his throat and answered

"What?"

The door opened, his brother's secretary stepping inside- or half inside, atleast, she really was trying to keep herself mostly out of the office

"Mr. Kaiba? The Hattori Group is here a little early,"

"Thank you, why didn't Atem come to tell me that himself?"

The girl froze, breifly, her face a little red

"A-Ah, well, Atem ... isn't here..." she explained slowly

That took Seto by quite a bit of surprise, eyebrows raising, but otherwise keeping himself relatively put together

"... I see, tell Mokuba I'll be with him soon,"

"Yes Sir," she said quickly, hurrying out of the office and shutting the door behind her

Sighing quietly in releif, he pulled his desk drawer open, watching Tikki fly out as he grabbed the little compact case he typically kept his earrings in

"Atem isn't here? That's so odd...."

"Agreed, that isn't like him," Seto noted slowly, setting his earrings in their propper place before glancing up at the little floating mystical creature in front of him

"You don't think he got sick or something do you?"

"Maybe.... can you check on him?"

"Yes, I have his personal number, I'll call him before I go to the meeting," he noted, wasting no more time in sliding his contact box into his pocket and then grabbing his breifcase, heading for the door as Tikki vanished from the room

As if he didn't have enough greif to deal with, now he was worried about Atem too

His assistant was usually so good about being a loyal employee, why would he have just run off in the middle of the work day?

Swallowing tightly, he headed out of the office and grabbed his phone from his pocket, deciding to call Atem on the way to the meeting

He hoped nothing was wrong, he'd rather Atem just be taking a break than be sick or something...

Sighing quietly, he stepped into the elevator and set his breifcase down, pressing on the lobby button and leaning back as he clicked Atem's name in his phone

He was starting to feel anxious

One thing that being a superhero had taught him was that his loved ones were never really safe- regardless of if they knew who he was or not

His stomach was churning at the very _possibility_ that something had happened to Atem, that he might be hurt or kidnapped or- ... _worse_....

_"Mr. Kaiba! I--"_

"You aren't at work,"

_"I know, I ... stepped out for a moment, but I'm coming back into the lobby now,"_

As if on cue, the elevator door opened, and Seto was able to glance out and see Atem walking back into the office building, carrying a couple of bags of take-out

.. Oh... he had gone to get lunch

"Sorry I stepped away without saying anything," he noted as Seto stepped out of the elevator

"I wanted to surprise you with lunch from your favorite Italian place, I know most people don't have pasta for lunch but I just thought... it might be a nice treat?"

Seto's face flushed, his heart beating a little bit faster as Atem offered one of the bags to him

"I- ... thank you, yes... but I'm actually on my way to a meeting, can you just.. put it in the break room for me?"

"Sure, I'll guard it wile I'm back there having lunch, you have nothing to worry about, your pasta is safe with me," he promised, winking playfully and blowing a kiss before heading to the elevator

Seto's heart was racing, his mouth was dry, and he felt absolutely.......

_Love struck_

 

~+~

 

"Aren't you ready to go yet? It's past midnight Seto..."

"Soon, not yet, I need to finish this code,"

Tikki groaned loudly, eyes rolling as she flopped down on the desk next to Seto's laptop

In response to her complaint, he reached into the drawer with his free hand and pulled out a few peices of candy for her

Kwami required alot of nourishment to keep their powers up, and perhaps it wasn't the best idea to keep her from getting a good night's sleep, but to be fair, it wasn't like he was _forcing_ her to stay awake, she could just sleep in the desk drawer

"You and your codes....." Tikki mumbled, moving to curl up in a darker part of the desk, away from the light of the laptop

Before Seto could attempt to turn the laptop away to give her more space, however, the sound of an explosion went off in the distance, and he jumped, rushing to his feet and peering out the window

Sure enough, a few miles away there was a fire, smoke rising to the sky, flames painting color across the otherwise dark night

Perfect.....

He hurriedly grabbed his earrings and put them in, feeling the familiar sensation of magic begin to flow through his veins

"Tikki, spots on!"

"You got it!" Tikki perked up, flying forward and surrounding Seto in a tornado of hearts and sparkles- yeah, trust him, it wasn't exactly his choice of transformations

It was like a Magical Girl type of thing, the red and black-spotted suit slowly encompassing every inch of his body, swiping his fingers across his face as a mask formed over his eyes, his magic yoyo wrapping around his waist and finally pulling the look together

If you could really call it that

Without hesitating, he opened the window and immediately jumped outside, slinging his yoyo up to the nearest building and swinging rooftop to rooftop- or whatever part of the buildings or trees he could manage to get ahold of with his yoyo

It didn't take long for him to find the source of the explosion, his eyes narrowing as he landed in front of the supervillain of the evening

She looked like she stepped out of the American 1980s, in a bomber jacket with flight goggles and riding boots

..

Huh

"Ah, so you've arrived, Ladybug!!" she cackled, tossing a classic-designed, cartoonish looking bomb up and down in her hand

Oh, so it was going to be one of _those_ villains then

Ok

"And who do I have the displeasure of dealing with tonight?" he asked tiredly

"I am Bombshell, and I've come to-!"

"Let me guess, destroy Domino and take our Miraculouses? Get a new speech," he said with a huff, pretending to examine his fingernails, one hand on his hip, as he waited for Chat Noir to jump in

..

Oh, he wasn't here yet, huh...

"I'll teach you-!"

"So what is it this time then?" he asked, glancing up boredly and cutting her off

"Scorned lover? Pissed off employee? Let me guess, someone screwed up your hair?"

Snarling in annoyance, Bombshell launched a bomb at Seto's head- wich he dodged relatively easily, watching in mild surprise as the bomb collided with a statue behind him and immediately went off

So just because it had a fuse, that didn't mean it needed to be lit?

Or, maybe these bombs were self-igniting in some way...

They must have been more sophisticated than they looked, in any form

"I'll have you know that the one responsible for all of this is my lousy, good-for-nothing husband!"

"What, did he cheat on you?"

 _Again_ with a scorned lover? Really?

"Yes!! ... With FASHION!"

....

Ok, color him confused

"You're going to have to spell this one out for me Lady Lunatic,"

"I am one of Japan's top designers, Kurosaki is one of Japan's top models, we're a match made in heaven.... or atleast we _were_ , until he started wearing some other woman's clothes!!"

Wow, that could be taken two different ways

"And so your plan to get back at him is by bombing the country and murdering a couple of superheros? Don't you think that's a little rediculous?"

"Oh I'm not bombing the country, heavens no! .. I'm just bombing the fashion show he and that she-devil are at,"

Oh, that actually made significantly more sense than alot of evil plans he had heard before so....

"I hate to break this to you lady, but as long as I'm around, the only thing you'll be bombing is your attempt at staying out of prison!"

Ouch, ok, yeah he definitely needed Chat Noir around for these puns....

"We'll see about that Ladybug, but without your little companion around, I don't think that'll be much of a problem,"

Seto ground his teeth, suddenly turning serious as he slung his yoyo forward, dodging the set of bombs she threw at him and locking the wire of the yoyo around her ankle, suddenly yanking her forward

"Where is Chat Noir!? What have you done with him!?" he roared viciously

"Oh I haven't done anything to him yet, but I'm about to," Bombshell cackled, snapping her fingers as another bomb appeared in her hand, wich she promptly threw... behind.. Seto for some reason?

Seto glanced over his shoulder, just in time to see the bomb fly back over head and collide with a nearby storefront- wich, ofcourse, promptly exploded

"Batter up!"

He knew that voice....

"Chat Noir!" he shouted in releif, his attention distracted for a moment as he turned to stare up at the flower stand where his partner was currently perched

"Good evening M'Lady," he bowed dramatically, somersaulting off of the cart and strutting towards Seto, his bright ruby eyes shimmering even more than usual in the moonlight

"Where in the FUCK have you been?" Seto snapped irritably

"Awww, was M'Lady worried about me? That's so sweet of you Bugaboo, but don't worry, I was just taking a cat nap," Chat Noir yawned back, rubbing miserably at his eyes as he passed by

"I mean, it _is_ past midnight, after all, most reasonable people are asleep,"

"Most reasonable people with no social life perhaps, and quit with the dumbass nicknames," Seto grumbled in annoyance, reeling his yoyo up... and finding the criminal had escaped

Great...

"Oh but I don't hear you protesting you were worried about me," Chat Noir smirked wickedly

"And FYI, I have plenty a social life, but I also have a very demanding boss who thinks it's actually a good idea to be at work before the sun has risen,"

"Sounds like a good boss, sorry to have disturbed your beauty sleep but we have a much bigger problem on our hands," he noted, deciding to cut the banter short, if only for the sake of figuring out where Bombshell had gone

To his credit, Chat Noir did seem off his A game, he must be exhausted, and Seto didn't need him slowing them down

"Mmm, too bad Howl isn't with us, we could use a bomb-sniffing dog right about now,"

Right...

Seto and Chat Noir weren't the only ones in Japan with Miraculouses

Wile the majority of the magical objects were spread out across the world, two others had activated here rather recently- the tiger and the dog

Seto didn't know the identities of the other two superheros, but they went by Tora and Howl respectively, and Tora had the same weird hair style that Chat Noir had- spikey with blonde bangs and the back being a black and red mix

Well, actually, Tora's third color was purple, not red, but close enough

He had at first suspected they were related, but they didn't act like they actually knew eachother so...

Besides, Atem had that hairstyle too, he supposed it must be a new fad

The difference was that Tora and Howl seemed to travel alot, that or they didn't live in Domino...

"Ladybug? Do you see anything?"

Shaking his head, Seto gave a sigh and narrowed his eyes

It really shouldn't be so hard to find someone as basic and uncreative as Bombshell, but- ...

Suddenly, he heard a familiar fizzing noise...

"Chat!! Get down!"

Before Chat Noir could react, Seto quickly covered him and nocked him to the ground, watching as a bomb landed just a few feet away from them and exploded

Damn....

The bombs lacked power, the explosions were never all that huge, but they made up for it with quality and the ability to cover distance

"I'll cover you, do your thing Bugaboo," Chat Noir suddenly insisted, apparently serious enough for once to avoid making a dumb pick-up line as he rolled them over so that he was straddling Seto breifly before jumping up and racing off in the direction of the bombs

For a second, just a moment, Seto wished he had stuck around, if for no other reason so that he could have felt that pleasant weight on top of him a little bit longer....

Shaking his head though, he hurried to his feet and cleared his throat, tossing his yoyo up into the air

"Lucky charm!!"

Ahh he really did hate the swarm of butterflies that always covered around him when he used this power, but he had no choice...

Waiting anxiously, he found himself disappointed - as per usual- when the object that landed in his hand was ... a bottle of soda

...

Great, he could spray her with soda, that would work

Although, as he looked more closely at it, he realized that it might not be soda in the bottle after all, it looked too thick to be regular soda...

Curiously, he secured his yoyo and undid the bottlecap, immediately being smacked with the overwelming scent of... gasoline....

Looking around, he waited for his spots-vision to kick in, clocking a water fountain a few yards away from him...

And the flower cart where Chat Noir had been earlier...

That's where Bombshell was standing now, and Chat Noir was below her dodging and batting away bombs

_Perfect_

Grinning to himself, he immediately ducked behind some bushes, knowing he was going to have to be quiet as a mouse as he snuck towards the fountain

If he didn't have the value of surprise with him on this, then it wouldn't work, and he couldn't let that happen

Carefully, he snuck up to the fountain and waited off to the side, getting into position before calling out to his partner

"Chat Noir!! Use your Cataclysm on the flower cart!" Seto shouted

"The cart? Whatever you say M'Lady!!" his partner called back

Seto watched tensely as the other hero summoned his powers and, in a single swipe of his claws, destroyed the flower cart, meaning that Bombshell fell off of it before she could jump away

And when she fell, she landed right in the fountain- exactly as Seto had planned it, wich gave him the opportunity to pour the gasoline right over her

"What... what is that!? Is that.... gasoline!?" she shouted

"Yes, so I wouldn't go pulling any more tricks if I were you, your bombs ignite when you launch them right? Too bad for you, you won't have time to launch one before the sparks fly off of it and ignite the gas, I mean, you could try, but that would be a pretty big risk wouldn't it?"

Bombshell looked _stunned_ , and without even needing to instruct him, Chat Noir was already perched on the edge of the fountain, reaching out and grabbing the hair-comb that was currently holding her hair in place before hurrying over to Seto and presenting the comb to him

"M'Lady~"

"Hm, how do you know it's in the hair comb?" Seto asked curiously

"I saw it glowing earlier, it looks like a pretty likely candidate,"

Deciding that to be reasonable enough, he set the comb on the ground and ... immediately stepped on it

Surely enough, a moment later, a black and purple butterfly came flying out, and Seto was quick to launch his yoyo at it

"No more evil-doing for you Akuma!" he shouted, watching the yoyo ensnare the butterfly and quickly pulling it back towards him before sliding it open and watching the butterfly- now a bright glittering pink- fly away into the night sky

"Goodbye butterfly,"

Glancing away from the butterfly for a moment, he sighed and hooked his yoyo back in place before turning his attention to Chat Noir again

"I can take her to the hospital if you'd like, you should go back to bed,"

"What, and leave you with all the glory? No thanks, let's take her together,"

Seto wished that he could call a car for them, but he had to be carefull not to show any signs of who he was- and that meant not letting on that he was rich...

"Um, on second thought, let's just call an ambulance and wait here, I don't like the idea of dragging her into a car when she's covered in gasoline..."

"I can't believe I'm saying this Chat Noir, but that's actually a good idea,"

"Why thank you Bugaboo,"'

"But I still hate it when you call me that,"

 

~+~

 

"Do you think she'll be alright?"

Usually when they de-Akumatized someone, they were able to confirm that they were ok and apologize for all of the evil they had done wile under Hawkmoth's spell, but Bombshell had passed out in the fountain before they'd even learned her name

It wasn't sitting well with Atem

"She'll be fine,"

Ladybug certainly seemed nonplussed though

"Thanks for your in-depth analysis M'Lady," Atem snickered playfully, taking a step closer to his partner as the ambulance drove away

He wanted to reach out and hold Ladybug's hand....

It was right there, handing by his side, it'd be so easy, but...

"I have to get going-"

"Wait!" Atem shouted, actually managing to startle the other superhero

"Come on... it's night, you can't possibly still be working, how about that food hm?"

He would get rejected again, he knew

It wasn't that Ladybug didn't like him- he didn't think- but more that he was just shy

Ladybug seemed uncomfortable with people in general, but always put more of himself out there to Atem than anyone else- atleast to Atem's admittedly limited knowledge

He had said repeatedly that he didn't want to risk the two of them accidentally learning eachother's identities, for safety's sake, but Atem didn't see why they couldn't atleast become freindlier outside of work, if they were both still in costume

Ladybug seemed lonely and distant, he wanted to get closer to him, he wanted to be freinds, at the absolute least, was that so wrong?

"Sure, why not?"

...

Wait a minute, did he just get an acceptance!?

"Really!?" Atem beamed with excitement

"I didn't eat dinner, if I don't eat something soon my kwami will get upset,"

_Oh is that really his excuse?_

Atem didn't know if he should laugh or wince at that, was he seriously using his kwami as an excuse to eat?

"Understandable, they're very needy,"

Better not to do anything that might scare off this rare moment though

"Do you even know of any place that's open this late?"

"I do! There's a tavern on Orchid Street-"

"I don't drink alcohol," Ladybug said immediately, wich.. somewhat caught Atem off-guard

"... I wasn't going to suggest it, I don't either," he snickered, watching Ladybug's face flush a light pink- it was _adorable_

"I was just going to say that they have good food there,"

"Ok," Ladybug agreed, giving Atem something atleast resembling a smile and taking his yoyo from around his waist

"Want to take the express way?"

Lighting up like a Christmas tree, Atem stepped closer, reaching out to wrap his arms around his partner- but he was stopped abruptly by a familiar and frustrating beeping sound coming from his ring

A second later, Ladybug's earrings started making the same noise

"No... no no no not now... not yet...."

Ladybug, for his credit, actually looked considerably disappointed too

"I'm sorry,"

"Wait!! Raincheck!?"

"I have to go," Ladybug insisted, unraveling his yoyo

"Ldaybug please! Tommorrow!? I'll be waiting here at two o'clock, plea-"

"We'll see,"

And just like that, he was gone, and Atem felt like he was going to cry

But he didn't

He sucked it up and cleared his throat, flexing his fingers out

"Claws in Plagg,"

The familiar sensation of his powers disappearing washed over him, his suit beginning to vanish in a bubbling mist of black, before he was left standing in the middle of the street in nothing but his pajama shorts and tank top, disappointingly as that was

"Sorry, I held out as long as I could!" the little cat-like kwami promised, fluttering out of Atem's ring and hanging his head with guilt

"It's ok buddy, I know you did your best, besides, Ladybug's powers were faltering too,"

"Sooo you're not mad?"

"At you? Never," Atem promised, reaching out to scratch the little creature under his chin

"Ooh good, then let's eat! I'm starving!! Hey, does that place you were talking about have cheeseburgers? I could go for a cheeseburger!!"

"Fine fine," Atem sighed

It was just as well, he'd have to go grocery shopping tommorrow anyway, since he ended up becoming a superhero, his kwami had been eating him out of house and home, his weekly grocery trips had turned into bi-weekly and now were frighteningly approaching tri-weekly...

"Just ah..." he paused, looking down at his clothes and wrinkling his nose

"Let me get some actual clothes on first..."

 

~+~

 

"Sorry about that, I didn't mean to interrupt, I just-"

"It's ok Tikki," Seto promised dismissively, leaning back in his office chair and watching the little red kwami fidget

"You ... were really going to go have dinner with him, huh?"

Seto only shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck

He was absolutely starving, he was going to use that as his ~~excuse~~ motivation for going to dinner with Chat Noir, that's all

"Why don't we go to that tavern he was talking about? We can get take-out! Come oooon Seto, you've been here long enough, the rest of the code can wait until morning can't it?"

Seto _hated_ to agree but...

Sighing, he ultimately gave a little nod, getting up from his chair and saving his work quickly before turning the laptop off

"Alright then, tavern, let's go,"

 

~+~

 

Maybe he should have called ahead, but Seto hadn't felt like it

He was sort of regretting that now, though

He had never been comfortable in bars, but in the past, the few times he had had to be in one, it had been relatively early in the evening, long before the rush of drunks came in

Now that he was here at almost one in the morning, he _really_ couldn't wait to leave, but they were busy and understaffed and Seto knew, regrettably, that he would be forced to wait a wile longer

He hadn't even placed his order yet....

"Hey, isn't that your assistant?"

Tikki had taken to hiding in his coat collar, and Seto was about to quietly correct her- not that anyone was paying attention to him at this point- but when he turned to glance over his shoulder, he found with complete shock that it was, indeed, Atem sitting a few feet away, alone at a booth, seemingly messing with his jacket, before freezing and quickly turning around, smiling fondly at Seto and waving him over

"See? It IS him! Go say hi!!" Tikki encouraged

"I.. I don't know..." Seto mumbled quietly

"Oh come on, you didn't get to go out with Chat Noir-"

"Hardly a loss,"

"-now your crush is here at the same tavern, alone, inviting you over? Go for it!"

"It would be unprofessional,"

"What, _dinner_ is unprofessional? Come _on_!"

To be fair, Atem _did_ already have appetizers there, and he obviously wasn't getting food any time soon any other way....

Finally deciding to more or less rip the band-aid off, he stepped down from the bar stool and strode over to the other man, feeling his heart absolutely _race_ in his chest as he slowly sat down on the opposite side of the booth

"Mr. Kaiba! What are you doing here?"

"Just... getting some dinner, you?"

"Same," Atem noted, pushing a plate of cheesesticks towards the CEO

"Want to share? This is really too many for me anywa-AH!"

Surprised, Seto watched as Atem winced and swatted at something next to him where his jacket was, weird...

"Um ... sat on a spike..." Atem mumbled back, starting to turn red

Oh, right... Atem had spikes on his jacket

Made sense

"Anyway, feel free to share,"

Hesitantly, Seto nodded and took one of the breaded sticks, feeling awkward and shy and ... _completely_ out of his element....

"Oh, are your... ears peirced?"

What-...

Quickly, his free hand shot up to his ear, and he felt utter dread and panic begin to flood through him a the memory of the holes in his ears

After he had gotten his Miraculous, he'd _had_ to get them peirced so he could wear the earrings, people weren't usually close enough to him to notice- and he still sort of wondered how Atem was able to see it in such poor lighting, but...

"Yes, it's new," he decided, biting into the cheesestick in a poor effort to keep Atem from asking about it further

It didn't work

"That's cool! I didn't think of you as the earring type, where are your starters?"

Welp, that plan failed

"... My what?"

"Your starters? When your ears are newly peirced you have to wear starter-earrings to keep the holes from closing up, did ... did no one tell you that? Did the salon not give them to you?" he asked, _clearly_ concerned

"Um..."

He had had his ears peirced for over a year now, and he had worn his Miraculous during the healing period after he had first gotten them

Ladybug hadn't become a well known name until several _months_ after he first started masquerading as a superhero so it had worked out well

He hadn't even given any thought to starter earrings....

"Where did you get them done? You should sue for that!"

"They did," he said quickly, clearing his throat

"I just... had a meeting earlier and couldn't wear them, so-"

"Mr. Kaiba, you have to wear your starters 24/7 for six weeks, you can't just take them in and out as you please until you're healed,"

Atem should know, he had _three_ peircings in his ears

"Um-"

"Wait here, I'll be right back,"

"No wai-"

But it was too late, Atem had peeled out of his seat in a hurry, grabbing his jacket and rushing out of the tavern

Seto groaned, burrying his face in his hands in humiliation and dread as Tikki "comfortingly" patted his shoulder

"Boy you really did it this time, huh?"

"Shut up Tikki...."

 

~+~

 

Sometimes Atem wanted to throttle his boss

Not because he didn't like him- quite the opposite, Atem thought Kaiba was a great boss, all things considered, and he even sort of considered him a freind

But rather, because of Kaiba's blatant inability- or outright refusal- to take care of himself

The reluctance to eat or sleep responsibly had always gotten under Atem's skin, but that earring thing last night....

Atleast he had learned his lesson after Atem bought him a set of studs and demanded he wear them until his ears were healed

Atem had seen him wearing them this morning- _good_ \- so he was mostly over his frustrations with his boss

It just worried him that he had been taking them in and out like that to begin with, and who knew how long he had even had those peircings anyway?

Atem hadn't asked, as Kaiba had been quick to change the subject after getting his earrings put in, but what if he had been going for WEEKS like that?

Ugh, he refused to let himself focus on that any longer...

Right now he was just going to focus on the fact that he was currently waiting on his beloved Ladybug

Sure, Ladybug hadn't committed to being here, but Atem had his hopes

He was currently waiting on a bench by the fountain with a bouquet of roses, hoping that the flowers weren't taking things too far

He wasn't going to define this as a "date" unless Ladybug wanted him to, but he still thought the flowers were a nice touch

He just hoped that Ladybug would actually show up

He knew that it was far from a gurantee but...

A guy could hope, right?

"Ohh Chat Noir! How are you?!"

Glancing up, Atem smiled politely at the stranger- a young man with dark skin and frosted blonde hair, earrings and a crop top, kohl around his eyes...

Atem liked his style

"I'm doing well, how are you?" he answered back politely

"I'm fine I'm fine, I just.. wanted to meet you, you're so cool," the stranger smiled brightly, his eyes flicking down to the flowers

"I'm guessing those are for someone special?"

Ahh ... he guessed that huh?

"I'm ... hoping so yes," Atem confirmed, his face beginning to heat up, he was glad for the mask covering the upper half of his face, it may not completely conceal any blushing but it helped

"That's so sweet! Although....... pro-tip? Your lips look a little chapped,"

"They.. they do?" Atem asked in surprise, reaching up to feel his lips

... Ah... but his gloves were in the way, he couldn't feel anything...

"Yeah, but it's nothing to worry about, I just bought some chapstick if you want to use it?" the stranger offered, reaching into his pocket and holding out a small stick towards him

This wasn't a date he was having with Ladybug

He had no reason to believe they would kiss

.......

But he still wanted to look his best, and if this stranger could see that they were chapped then Ladybug probably would notice too

"Thank you so much, that's very kind," he smiled politely, breaking the seal on the chapstick and taking the cap off

Huh... the interior was black....

That was a little weird, but maybe it tasted like licorice or something?

Paying it no further mind, he dragged it over his lips in a smooth, easy motion, but before he could even put the cap back on the chapstick, he found himself feeling rather... woozy....

And in moments, he fell backwards off of the bench, hitting the ground with a thud as the roses fell to the wayside

 

~+~

 

Maybe he shouldn't have, but Seto had decided to meet Chat Noir as Tikki had ~~pushed~~ suggested him to do

Having lunch together wouldn't hurt, right?

No, it couldn't hurt

So, exhaling nervously- for reasons he didn't understand, it was just Chat Noir- he made his way to the square where they were supposed to meet

"Chat?" he called out, crossing his arms over his chest as he peered around the square

"Here kitty kitty....."

Something didn't feel right....

Something was off, he just ... didn't know what...

Swallowing, he shifted his stance, about to call out again, when suddenly the cat in question back flipped off of a nearby building and landed in a crouching pose on top of the statue in the center of the square, his head hung, his posture... off...

Something was wrong

_Something was wrong_

"Hello, M'Lady,"

That was Chat Noir's voice alright, but it was- ... it was hollow and empty, it was like a computer simulation...

"Chat... what's wrong with you? What's going on?" Seto asked hesitantly, taking a slow step closer

At that moment, his partner raised his head, and Seto was met with clouded, foggy red eyes, lacking their usual soul and clarity

Oh... _shit_....

"What's going on, M'Lady," he said slowly, straightening up into a standing pose, his expression completely blank

"Is the death of Ladybug,"

Immediately, he jumped down from the statue, his claws out, giving Seto only a moment to bend backwards and dodge him

"Alright.... what Akumatized _MOTHERFUCKER_ is responsible for this!?" he shouted, dodging again as Chat moved towards him a second time

But something was off about him- besides the obvious

He was moving more slowly, more clumsily, lacking all of the stealth and agility that he usually had

Like a.... _puppet_...

" _I_ am Puppeteer, and _you_ are very perceptive Ladybug! You must really know your partner! Or atleast, you _think_ you do, so hard to _really_ know someone you love, isn't it? Wouldn't it be easier if you could just .... control them? Like marionettes?"

Glancing upwards, he could see someone staring down at them from a building nearby

Eyes narrowed, he grabbed his yoyo, dodging Chat Noir again and swinging it upwards so that he could get to the evil asshole who had brain-washed his partner

"Yeah, no, that's the thinking of a fucking _psychopath_ , thank you,"

"Excuse me, _high-functioning sociopath_ ," the stranger noted

"Bullshit! There's nothing high-functioning about using my partner as your puppet!! Now release him before I turn you inside out and turn your _corpse_ into _my_ puppet you delusional freak of nature!"

Admittedly, he probably shouldn't be getting quite this upset at someone who was being puppetered just as much as Chat Noir was, sure they had some level of free will but their thoughts and actions were still largely clouded by Hawkmoth's brain-washing

Sympathy, however, had always been more Chat Noir's specialty

Well, that and reckless endangerment of public safety that he always left Seto to clean up, but regardless

"Oh come now, you can't really disagree, I've seen how you two interact, you can barely stand him! Surely you'd rather just.... control him?"

"FUCK OFF!" Seto screamed, swinging onto the balcony of the apartment building the stranger was currently standing on

"He may get on my nerves sometimes but he's STILL my partner! He's still my FREIND! And I know that deep down... there is NO ONE I can rely on more than Chat Noir, no one who has my back the way he does! I'd rather tolerate his annoying habbits for the next billion years than ever live a single DAY without him being who he is!"

Anger was boiling in his veins, and he didn't bother using his powers this time, he simply aimed a punch towards Puppeteer's face, only for Chat Noir to appear suddenly between them and catch his fist, bending down and sweeping Seto off of his feet

"Excellent Chat Noir! Now rip out those gaudy earrings and hand them over, then give me your ring... and I can get what Hawkmoth promised me!"

Promised?

Since when did Hawkmoth promise people things?

He lied and manipulated sure but ... he had never promised to do anything for anyone, to Seto's knowledge

He didn't have time to consider it though

Chat Noir swung his claws down and Seto only barely caught his wrist, bending back and aiming his feet up, giving Chat Noir a swift kick in the stomach to launch him backwards before hand-springing back and tossing his yoyo at the building across from him

"Sorry Kitty Cat, you'll have to lick your wounds later..."

He hated watching his partner stagger backwards like that, but he didn't have a choice

He didn't want to seriously hurt Chat Noir and if his partner was going to stand in the way of destroying their enemy then he needed to get some space between them until he could think out a plan...

He obviously didn't have much time though

Chat Noir was following close behind him, only about one building behind Seto's own pace

Realizing that outrunning his partner would be considerably futile, he smashed the glass door of the balcony and ran into the apartment, thankfull that it was empty as he sprinted through it, and now that his yoyo was free...

"Lucky charm!!"

The yoyo shot up into the air, butterflies and sparkles surrounding him as the object he was granted fell into his palm

...

"Lipstick? What the fuck!?"

Seto would _never_ get used to how bizarre these objects were

But he apparently didn't have any time to debate on it, Chat Noir was right behind him, rushing towards him with his claws out

Seto dodged easily, immediately hopping over the kitchen counter and making his way back towards the balcony

There wasn't enough room to fight in here, and now that he had his Lucky Charm, he needed to figure out how to use it, wich would probably require being outside...

As he approached the balcony, however, a china plate flew towards his head, forcing Seto to pause long enough to duck and look behind him

Chat Noir had an entire stack of plates balanced neatly in one hand, tossing them towards Seto like flying discs

Damn...

An inconvenience at best, but hardly a big deal

Another plate zoomed towards his head, and effortlessly, Seto caught it in his hand, tossing it behind him and narrowing his eyes

"You really think that's going to stop me?" he huffed

At first, Chat Noir's face remained blank, before a sudden grin began creeping over his expression, like a twisted, inhuman smirk...

He had never thought Chat Noir was capable of looking creepy but....

Swallowing nervously, Seto watched as Chat Noir suddenly tossed the entirety of the remaining plates at him, giving Seto the opportunity to swing his yoyo around like a sheild and keep the plates from crashing against him

But when he lowered his yoyo, Chat Noir was charging right at him, his staff drawn, aiming it towards Ladybug's head

Seto cursed under his breath, swallowing nervously as he dodged time and time again, finally finding himself at the edge of the balcony, hopping up on top of it as the staff swung towards him again, but before he could toss his yoyo anywhere, Chat Noir's smirk grew...

"Cataclysm..."

Eyes widening in fear, Seto watched his partner bring the claws down towards him and instantly fell backwards, terrified of being touched by the destructive powers that his partner had summoned

Free-falling through the hair, he quickly launched his yoyo upwards and watched with releif as it curled around the railing of the balcony, allowing him to more or less catch himself before hitting the ground...

But not for long

He watched in horror as Chat Noir struck his claws down against the wire of the yoyo, the entire thing beginning to disintegrate and turn to ash in his hold

"NO!!" Seto screamed

But it was far too late, and Seto hit the ground with a hard ***THUD***

Ahh....

He was in pain... his head was especially hurting, his ears ringing...

Damn...

"Seto! Seto are you ok!?" Tikki shouted worriedly, fluttering out in front of him with a worried expression on her face

"I'm fine... Tikki... but my yoyo- ... are you-?"

"I'm fine! As long as your earrings stay in-tact, I'll be ok, but ... I can't generatre a new yoyo for you wile you're in battle, it takes time and energy, more than I have now... without your yoyo you're almost completely defenseless, you sohuld retreat now wile you can!"

"Me? Retreat? Never," he scoffed

"Seto-!"

"Chat Noir's life is on the line Tikki, and I will NOT be accused of abandoning him!" he shouted, wincing as he forced himself to attempt to sit up

Speaking of Chat Noir... he could see the cat landing evenly on the ground a couple of yards away and stalking towards him slowly, like a cat stalking an injured bird...

_Damn_

"Besides... I still have this," he mumbled, holding up the lipstick that his Lucky Charm had produced

Now to actually figure out how to use it...

Blinking a few times to adjust his vision, he started searching for spots, the hallmark of his power, the revealer for what would be usefull to him now

 

There were spots on Chat Noir's lips, and on the lips of Puppeteer, but that was it...

What was it trying to tell him?

"Hurry Seto! Chat Noir is getting closer, and if you can't use your Lucky Charm, you won't be able to fight back!"

"I know that..." he mumbled quietly, watching his partner grin as he stalked, and noticing... something.....

"Hey Tikki, is it just my probable concussion, or are Chat Noir's lips black?"

"They are... and so are Puppeteer's!"

So that was how Chat Noir was being controlled, and that was what the lipstick was for...

Seto wouldn't have the time _or_ physical ability to wrestle his partner to the ground and paint the lipstick on him like this, but there was another option....

With Chat Noir moving ever closer, he hurried to pull the cap off of the tube and shakily draw the bright red lipstick over his lips, crying out when his hand was suddenly nocked away by Chat Noir's long silver staff

He crouched down over Seto, still smirking wickedly, and dropped his staff to the ground, reaching down towards Seto's face to grab his earrings, but Seto moved faster- just by a hair

He grabbed the sides of Chat Noir's face and lunged upwards, forcing their lips together and praying to any deity that would listen that this would work

 _Please..._ he thought

_Please give him back...._

Surely enough, when he pulled back and hesitantly opened his eyes, he could see the black mist beginning to lift off of Chat Noir's lips, his eyes suddenly and steadily returning to their usual clear red hues

Thank the gods...

Thank the gods....

"M'Lady...?"

"Good, you're back... now ... _sic 'er boy,_ "

"You know that's technically a dog thing, but just this once, I'll let it go,"

Rising slowly to his feet, he turned around, allowing Seto to relax and thunk back against the pavement

"What are you doing Chat Noir?! Kill Ladybug and bring me his Miraculous!!" Puppeteer shouted

"Sorry Asshole, but this cat obeys only one master... and that's Ladybug!!"

Seto panted quietly, slowly closing his eyes and letting him rest, if only for a moment

"Seto... Seto open your eyes! You can't fall asleep, you have to stay awake!" Tikki shouted anxiously

"Keep your voice down before someone hears you saying my name... I'm not sleeping, I'm just resting my eyes..."

"You say that every night that you fall asleep at your computer too! Seto come on, _please!!_ " the kwami shouted desperately, tapping against his face hurriedly

Seto cracked his eyes open, staring up at Tikki's worried face

He wanted so badly to sleep, but....

"LADYBUG!!!!"

Forcing his eyes to open more clearly, he watched as Chat Noir skidded to a halt in front of him, holding out the black and purple lipstick that, judging by appearance, was what held the Akuma responsible for evilizing Puppeteer

"Ladybug... we have to get you to a hospital!"

"Not now," Seto insisted, slowly forcing himself to sit up, with Chat Noir's help

"Tikki, what do I do about this? My yoyo is gone, how do I de-evilize it?" he asked, reaching out to take the lipstick and hold it up for the little kwami to see

"I... I don't know.... all you can do is hold onto it until I make a new yoyo for you... I'm sorry, the ladybug is the only Miraculous with the power to purify things, there's nothing else we can do...."

Seto wasn't satisfied with that answer

Akuma were dangerous things to just leave sitting around

Anyone could take it and accidentally turn themselves evil....

"What about Tora?" Chat Noir suggested suddenly, drawing Seto's attention back towards him

"His power is balance, I've seen him change things from bad to good before, can't this work the same way?"

"Not to my knowledge.... but... maybe he can atleast keep it neutral, not evil, not good, just... neutral, until I form a new yoyo," Tikki suggested

"That'd be great, but Tora isn't in town is he? I haven't seen he or that dog of his in weeks,"

"Maybe .... maybe I could get in touch with him," Chat Noir suggested, glancing up at Tikki

"How long will it take for you to make a new yoyo?"

"I don't know... a couple of days, maybe? It requires alot of time and energy,"

"Right... ok, I'll see if I can get Tora and Howl here in the mean time, and until then, I'll - ... I'll let you have it, Ladybug, in case Tikki is back to full strength sooner rather than later,"

Seto only nodded slowly, giving his partner a tired stare

"You ... know who they are, don't you? Tora and Howl?"

"I do, it ... wasn't intentional but... we all know eachother, yes,

Ofcourse they did

"Ladybug, I really don't- ..... I wish you would just let us exchan-"

"No," Seto insisted with a huff, wincing as he tried to push himself to his feet

Chat Noir reached out and gently but firmly wrapped an arm under his partner's ribs, and at about that time, his earrings started to flash

"I'm sorry, I can't-"

"It's ok Tikki, I just need to get somewhere private,"

"You _need_ to get to a damn hospital, and you have to promise me that you're going to do that," Chat Noir insisted, suddenly lifting Seto into his arms, causing him to gasp as his partner began rushing towards a more secluded area

There weren't many options around, but there was a line of cars up ahead, parked outside of an apartment building...

"Chat-"

"Swear to me that you're going to a hospital," he demanded, gently setting Seto down on one side of one of the parked cars before dashing around to the other side

It was good timing, the moment Chat Noir was out of sight, his powers automatically timed out, and he transformed back to his normal appearance

"Ladybug?"

"... I swear," he finally promised

"Thank you, and ... I can't apologize eno-"

"It's ok," Seto promised quickly

This wasn't Chat Noir's fault, and the last thing he wanted was for him to think that it was

There was a moment of silence before a familiar beeping began to go off, and Seto knew that Chat Noir was getting ready to time out as well

"You should go,"

"I should,"

But he didn't

"Claws in,"

Ah... he was transforming back willingly, so he must be ...

He wanted himself and Seto to be on equal ground, so Seto wouldn't think he had the upper hand

That was kind of... _sweet_

"I owe you lunch," Seto noted, earning a scoff from Chat Noir

"Ha... I think you mean that _I_ owe _you_ lunch after what happened today,"

"Ok, you owe me lunch," Seto settled, smiling a little fondly

"I'll plan for it the next time we meet... ok?"

"Ok," Chat Noir promised quietly

He was hesitant to leave, Seto knew, and in all honesty.... so was Seto

He wanted to comfort his partner, he wanted to make sure that he knew he wasn't upset, he wanted to soothe him, but...

But he didn't know what else they could do without their costumes being on

And protecting the secret was too important to risk so carelessly....

"I'll see you soon, Chat,"

He didn't wait for a response, he hurried to his feet and stumbled into the nearest alley war before grabbing his phone from his pocket and calling for a car

 

~+~

 

"Mr. Kaiba!! Where have you been?"

Eyes flicking up to the man in front of him, Seto immediately felt himself flush

_Oh_

Atem was waiting for him in the lobby, that was ... weird....

"I had a long meeting," he replied simply

"No... you didn't have any scheduled," Atem protested slowly, eyes narrowing

"It was a ... surprise meeting, with the Hattori group, they insisted on meeting at a ... bar,"

"In the middle of the day?"

"What can I say? The old man likes his sake`,"

Atem looked skeptical, but if he suspected anything, he wasn't the type to call out his boss on it until he got solid proof, so he wouldn't say anything yet

He did, however, take a step closer and gently but firmly set his hand against Seto's jaw, pulling him down sharply, until their lips were only inches away from eachother

This didn't help Seto's embarrassment _at all_

"Good, you're still wearing your earrings,"

Oh, so that was what he was looking for...

"Ofcourse I am, you gave them to me," Seto muttered back quietly, subconsciously reaching up and rubbing at his ears where he could feel the studs

They were nice, black diamonds- albeit fake

They kind of reminded him of Chat Noir actually, though they reminded him of Atem too so he supposed it was just a popular style

"Good answer," Atem smirked teasingly as he leaned back, glancing down at his watch

"I don't suppose you've had dinner yet, have you?"

"Ah, no-"

"Then let's go, you should eat before you go back to work, you look exhausted so some food should perk you up,"

Usually he would have argued, but this time he really couldn't

He hadn't eaten since the apple this morning that he had dared to call breakfast, he missed lunch for rather... obvious reasons, and he had spent the last several hours in the hospital getting X-Rayed and observed and cleared of any lasting damage- he thanked his superpowers for that- so now it was mid-evening, definitely time for dinner

Past time, really...

Additionally, he had to be more responsible than usual now

With his yoyo being broken and Tikki trying to conjure a new one, she needed all the energy she could get, and though most of that energy relied on her eating, some of it relied on Seto too

If she was picking up his slack during what few missions he may be able to take on during their unplanned break, she'd just be wasting more energy, and it would take more time for her to conjure a new yoyo for him

He had to keep his energy and nutrition at max- well, max for him, anyway- if he had any hopes of carrying the majority of the Ladybug weight

"Sure, what did you have in mind?"

Besides, he would never pass up the opportunity to spend time with Atem

"How do you feel about pizza buffets?" Atem smirked playfully

 

~+~

 

Bringing Seto Kaiba to a pizza buffet was definitely not an accomplishment Atem ever thought he would be able to lay claim to, and yet, here they were

Kaiba had seemed amazingly chill with this idea, much to Atem's releif, meaning he was able to enjoy some unhealthy pizza and the comforting sound of arcade games in the background wile talking to his boss about ... something a little more serious

He had called Yugi as soon as he had gotten back to the office, hoping that he and his boyfreind could make it back to Domino to babysit the Akuma until Ladybug's yoyo was fixed- or... created anew, probably...

The Cat Miraculous gave him the power of destruction, with his Cataclysm power, he could destroy anything he touched, and though it only worked once, "destroy" really couldn't be taken lightly

It didn't just break it or ruin it or melt it down, it turned it to _ashes_ , and even other Miraculouses weren't immune apparently

Usually Ladybug could correct whatever damage he caused by spinning his yoyo into the air and reversing any damage caused to the town by the Akuma- and Chat Noir too- during their battle, but without that yoyo...

Well, it didn't much matter now

The point was, their only chance at keeping that thing from corrupting anyone else until Ladybug's yoyo was fixed was Yugi

The Tiger Miraculous brought the power of Balance- just as Atem's brought Destruction and Ladybug's brought Creation

The power of Balance was difficult to use, but Yugi's calm, gentle nature made him the perfect fit for the tiger's power

With the power stored in his bracelets, he could summon a scale and weigh the auras of Positivity and Negativity and neutralize them to be, well, _balanced_

The perk was that he could temporarily stop evil-doers, the downside was that if he accidentally weighed one of the _heros_ , it would stop _them_ as well

Not the most reliable power in battle he would admit, but it was their best chance at getting the Akuma neutralized during this period

.. Though... that would mean Yugi would have to stay in his Tora form all the time wouldn't it?

No one could hold their powers out for longer than an hour or two at a time, what would happen when Yugi timed out...?

"Atem?"

Blinking, Atem forced a smile and focused on the mission at hand

Get Yugi to Domino on a permanent basis, deal with the Akuma problem after

"Sorry, I was just.... looking at the cute kids behind you,"

On cue, Kaiba turned around on the uncomfortable wooden bench and smiled warmly at the kids playing behind him

Seto Kaiba was an even bigger sucker for kids than Atem was- and that was really saying something

He knew that distraction would work

"Cute," his boss confirmed slowly, much to Atem's delight

Before the assistant could start on the subject that he wanted to discuss with Kaiba, however, one of the kids apparently dropped her yoyo, squeaking worriedly as it rolled towards their table

Effortlessly, Kaiba picked it up and gave it a few simple spins before winding it back in a single motion and handing it to the awed little girl in front of him

"Here you go," he said gently

The girl seemed hesitant, before taking the yoyo back and smiling brightly at Kaiba

"Thank you!" she squealed, hurrying back to where the rest of her party currently was and leaving Kaiba to turn back to his assistant and their conversation

"Sorry, you were saying?"

"O-Oh, no, it's fine! I just... wow, I never knew you were so skilled with yoyos," Atem teased playfully, earning a dismissive shrug from his boss as Kaiba leaned back against the back of the bench

"Mokuba and I used to play with them alot as kids, we got kind of competitive actually,"

"Really? And here I thought your big game was Duel Monsters," Atem noted with a smirk, half serious, half teasing

"It is, but yoyoing.... I know it sounds rediculous, but it ... brings alot of good memories with it, of Mokuba and I when we were younger,"

"It isn't rediculous," Atem promised softly

"I actually know someone else who's very good with a yoyo, he's.... unbelievable with one, actually,"

"Oh really?"

"Mm, yes, a person who I'm very close to, as a matter of fact,"

He wondered absently if Ladybug's reason for having a yoyo as a weapon was something like that

He had always thought it a little odd that his partner's weapon of choice was a _toy_ , and the way Plagg explained it, a Miraculous user's weapon was based on something to do with their personality or their heart or something like that

Atem guessed that his staff evolved out of the idea of a lead pipe, wich he had once used to kill a yakuza boss when he was younger, having had to rescue Jou at the time

He hoped that Ladybug's association was less negative than that

Actually, he and Joey had once fought a gang of people who weilded yoyos, he hoped Ladybug wasn't one of _those_ sorry bastards....

"What kind of person?"

Oh, Kaiba was talking to him

"I'm sorry?"

"What kind of person that you're close to? Who.. has the yoyo?"

"Oh! Um, just... a close freind, that's all,"

He couldn't exactly say it was his long-time crush now could he?

Especially if the feelings weren't reciprocated, and evidently, they weren't...

"I see," Kaiba finally nodded, taking a sip of his soda- evidently, a pizza place for kids didn't have coffee

"Anyway, Mr. Kaiba, the truth is... I actually wanted to ask you something, for ... a favor, of sorts,"

Kaiba slowly raised an eyebrow in waiting, head tilting slightly to one side

"Go on..."

"Well... do you remember last month when you said you were considering getting a therapist for the office? For .. performance enhancement?"

He hated using that term but that was what they were officially called, he couldn't control that

"Yes....?"

"When are you thinking of holding interveiws for that?"

"Two... maybe three weeks from now, why? I didn't know you had a degree in psychology,"

"Oh, I.. I don't, but my best freind does, I'm not asking for any special... anything, but .. if you could just tell me when the interveiws are so I could tell him... he's an amazing therapist and I really think he would be amazing to have on board, I just- .. right now he works primarily in Osaka, he isn't in Domino unless he's on vacation, so he would need a little .. notice... in order to get the time off to come here an-"

"Atem?" Kaiba interrupted suddenly, causing his assistant to flush red

"Y-Yes...?"

"I'll email you when I set up the interveiws, get me his resume`, I'll schedule him in on the first day,"

Atem gave a sigh of releif, smiling warmly at Kaiba and reaching out to gently wrap his hand around his boss'

"Thank you,"

"Don't mention it," Kaiba insisted quietly

"I actually .. wanted to ask you something as well,"

Surprised, Atem gave a small nod, waiting on Kaiba to start speaking, but before he could, the sound of glass shattering echoed through the restaurant

Instinctively, Atem jumped forward and forced Kaiba to the ground

"Stay down Mr. Kaiba!!"

"Ate-"

Kaiba didn't even get to finish what he was saying- _again_

Instead the maniacal laughter of a supervillain cut him off

When Atem glanced up, he found with surprise that... it wasn't a supervillain they were dealing with

Or atleast, if it was, it was a very, very poor one

He seemed to be an ordinary person, dressed in civilian clothing and weilding.. a gun....

That was new

Guns weren't typically formed from Akumas, not that Atem could ever remember seeing, atleast

"Come out, Ladybug! We know you're in here!"

Ok, this creep was looking for Ladybug?

Then he would have to get a taste of Atem's claws instead

"Stay here, I'll be back," Atem encouraged quietly, suddenly sliding out from under the table, ignoring Kaiba's calls for him to return and quickly ducking behind a wall separating the arcade area from the dining area

"Plagg, claws out!" he announced as quietly as he could, watching in satisfaction as his ring lit up and the familiar leather suit began to encompass his body, and the second he was fully transformed...

"Ah, another adoring fan hm?" he called teasingly, swinging over the wall and standing atop it confidently

"We aren't interested in you, we know Ladybug is here somewhere, fetch him for us, and maybe Master Puppeteer will go easy on you,"

"Hm, no, hard pass, any enemy of M'Lady is an enemy of mine," Atem huffed back, glaring at the stranger in annoyance

"Wait... did you say Puppeteer? You mean the same one from earlier today?"

"That's correct,"

Atem gritted his teeth, narrowing his eyes in annoyance

"How is that fucker still evil-doing? We took his Akuma!"

"Took, but not destroyed, all will be clear when Ladybug returns the Akuma to us,"

"I don't think that's going to happen," Atem hissed back, eyes narrowing as he suddenly launched himself forward and pointed the end of his staff at the stranger's throat

"Take me to Puppeteer- _now_ ,"

 _Sorry Kaiba,_ he thought sadly

_I'm afraid you'll have to wait on that question a little bit longer...._

 

~+~

 

Dammit dammit dammit dammit DAMMIT!!!!!

The one time he was out without his Miraculous!

He had taken Tikki home before returning to the office so she could gorge herself on food wile he was working, hoping that the more she ate, the more energy would return to her, and the faster she would be able to fix the yoyo

That decision was really coming back to bite him now though

He wasn't sure where Atem had gotten off to, but he couldn't focus on that now

He needed to get Chat Noir out of trouble

He had rushed out of the restaurant as soon as he could, then headed home to get Tikki

"Seto, this isn't a good idea, I feel compelled to tell you that,"

"I don't have any other choice," Seto insisted as he put his earrings in

"You have plenty of other choices!!"

"I'm not going to let Chat Noir face that freak of nature alone,"

"But .. without a weapon, what good will you do him? You can't even use your Lucky Charm..."

True, after the one-time use, the lipstick had evaporated, and without his yoyo around, he had no way to summon another one

"I'll just have to do things the old fashioned way," he explained simply, heading out to the garage and grabbing the katana that he had on display

Mokuba had encouraged him to get it a few years ago, as it was actually a replica from one of their favorite anime

It wasn't very sharp, but it would do in a pinch, and he had no better weapon available

"Seto this is insane!" Tikki shouted as he carefully secured the katana across his back

"No time to argue about it- Tikki, spots on!"

"You're going to get us both killed!"

Despite her protests- and her exhaustion- she had no choice but to obey

Kwami had plenty of free will, and by no means had to obey their weilders....

But they were powerless against the literal magic words that granted their weilders their powers

All Tikki could do now was time them out to force Seto to transform back, but she could only do that if she was dangerously low on energy

In other words, once Seto decided to transform, he was making the decisions for the both of them

"How exactly do you plan on getting there without your yoyo anyway?" Tikki asked in confusion

Seto only smirked, taking a set of car keys from the rack hanging on the wall of the garage and clicking the "unlock" button on the remote, watching in good humor as his most descriept car flashed to life

"The old fashioned way,"

"Oh good gods....."

 

~+~

 

"Ah, Chat Noir, here to give me your Miraculous?"

"Hardly," Atem huffed irritably as he shoved the civilian he had just been in the process of "saving" forward, towards Puppeteer

"I have a few questions for you Puppeteer, and if you answer them honestly, I MIGHT just be inclined to give you some help collecting the Miraculouses,"

A blatant lie, he was willing to admit, but-

"Ha, as if I would believe that in a second!" Puppeteer snorted with a roll of his eyes

"But I'll listen to your questions anyway, for my own amusement,"

Great, just what Atem wanted to be, a source of entertainment....

"How are you still controlling people if Ladybug has your Akuma?"

"What, you thought you were my first?" Puppeteer smirked as he leaned back on what Atem could only describe as a throne

Not far from the pizza place was a club- a kink club, actually, if Atem was correct- and that was where Puppeteer had decided to perch himself until, assumingly, he got his hands on their Miraculouses

As far as scenery went, Atem really didn't mind it

In fact something about the leather kind of made him feel right at home

(That may or may not have had anything to do with the full-body leather cat suit he was wearing, really, who could tell?)

"Silly kitty, you were only my latest and greatest use of Hawkmoth's power, I had created plenty of lackies long before you, however,"

Ah, that explained why the club was full of goons, despite Puppeteer no longer being in possession of the possessed lipstick...

"You know that line really would have worked much better if I was a rabbit, but I'll give you a pass just this once," he noted, jumping onto a long leather couch that laid a few feet in front of the large chair he was tentatively calling a throne

"Why did you think that Ladybug was at that restaurant?"

"Oh I didn't just _think_ he was, I _know_ he was, I can track my Akuma, you know, Ladybug must actually be stupid enough to keep it with him, ofcourse he left sometime after you showed up so I have to track him down anew again,"

He could track Akuma...?

Atem had never heard of that before, but in all fairness, he had also never seen an Akuma separated from it's weilder for more than a moment or two

Ladybug always purified those things, he had never even thought about what would happen if one was merely separated from it's owner....

But... the fact remained, Ladybug had been somewhere in that restaurant with him and Atem hadn't even known it

Worse, now Ladybug- whoever he was and wherever he was- had a giant target on his back

He probably had thought that keeping the Akuma on him would lessen risks as it would ensure that no one could steal it

He must not have realized it was essentially a tracking chip either...

Now angrier than ever at the fact that his partner's safety was at risk, Atem had to take a slow, calming breath to keep himself from launching forward and simply ripping Puppeteer's face apart

"What did Hawkmoth promise you?"

For some reason, that actually seemed to amuse the other man

...

Wich certainly couldn't have been _good_

"I'll tell you once you turn over your Miraculouses, it seems that Ladybug has come to give up his,"

What?

Turning quickly, Atem could practically feel the anxiety starting to rise under his skin as he witnessed his partner walking into the club

"Ladybug, what are you doing here!? You're powerless, go home and be safe!" Atem called desperately, jumping over the back of the couch and rushing towards his partner

"I'm not powerless," Ladybug argued, drawing a- ... a fucking _sword_ off of the sheath on his back!? Was he serious!?

"That is NOT the same thing! You're bringing a muggle weapon to a wizard fight!"

"Pft, quit popping Harry Potter references like that, you sound like my assistant,"

Atem gritted his teeth, running closer and holding his hands up, gently pushing the sword out of his face

"Ladybug, listen to me, this is too dangerous for you to be involved in when you don't have your yoyo, you need to go home and protect the Akuma from falling back into this douchebag's hands!"

He could distantly hear the aforementioned douchebag scoffing in offense somewhere in the distance, but he couldn't be bothered to care

"I am not defenseless! I can take care of myself!"

"But why do you have to take care of yourself _all the time_ when you have me here to take care of you as well!?" Atem shouted, feeling his anxiety slowly begin to turn into frustration and anger

"I know you don't like to lean on me, I know that you don't like to trust people, but this isn't some trivial shit like sharing our identities with eachother, I'm not going to let you get yourself killed!!"

Ladybug, for his credit, atleast seemed somewhat sympathetic, but ultimately did nothing but brush Atem aside as he began walking towards the asshole on the throne

"Move aside, _chaton_ , I'm not going to let you handle all of this by yourself,"

Atem wanted to scream

He wanted to scream and cry and pin Ladybug down and _force_ him to listen

Especially because of that nickname....

He only ever called Atem _chaton_ when he was really trying to make his partner listen to him, trying his best to make Atem see his perspective and do things his way, when he was trying to empathize...

Usually it worked better than a Lucky Charm, Atem _melted_ for that name...

But not this time

Ladybug's life wasn't worth a little melting, he was too important for Atem to lose

Atem would protect his partner, even if that meant turning against him to do it

Silently, Atem pulled his staff out and backflipped to land in front of Ladybug, pointing his staff at his partner's head

"Go home, M'Lady, _please_ ,"

"You'd dare go against me Chat?"

"If it means saving your life? YES! That fall could have killed you this afternoon and now you're going to jump back into the fray with no weapon, surrounded by goons, and with no way to actually _end_ this madness!?"

"I have to protect Domino, it's my job-"

"It's _a_ job! A job that you SHARE with ME! I am your partner, Ladybug, like it or not, and I will not let yourself throw your life away for pride! We need.... we need to *retreat*, Ladybug,"

"We do not retreat-"

"We don't have a choice! We can't kill these people and we can't make Puppeteer stop until we de-evilize the Akuma, we don't have a choice... and I am not going to let you risk your life to prove me wrong,"

"My, I love listening to the two of you argue," Puppeteer cackled from his throne

"I have to say, of all that I expected to get out of my little trick this afternoon, this was unexpectedly the _best_ benefit,"

Atem gritted his teeth, but refused to give into the taunting

His focus was on Ladybug right now and it would remain there until this was resolved

Ladybug seemed quiet for a moment, considering, before leaning a little closer

"Chaton..."

He was wispering something to him....

Huh...

"You know, it was fun for a wile, but I think I'm just about tired of you two," Puppeteer noted with a bored sigh, flicking his wrist forward

"Go now my little puppets, do what you were created for and bring me their Miraculouses!"

"Go Chat, now!" Ladybug insisted, stepping back as a grinning Atem suddenly launched himself forward

There was one way to bring the house down around all of these goons and give them enough time to get away

"Cataclysm!!"

Instead of aiming at any of the hapless puppets however, Atem brought his hand down.... on the _floor_

Wich wouldn't have been such a problem if they had been on the _ground_ floor, but the club was on the _third_ floor of a much larger building

Slowly, the floor began to disappear from beneath their feet, leaving everyone scrambling to a safety that wouldn't exist

Atem wasted no time after that in sprinting forward and wrapping his arms around Ladybug, leaping over furniture and jumping around obstacles as he ran towards the door and rushed outside, more thankfull than ever that the club was at ground-level

He wasn't sure what was beneath the club, but he kind of wanted to find out...

"Such a shame about that poor club, and here I was looking forward to getting my dom on wile I'm dressed for the occasion," he sighed playfully

"It'll go back to normal when my yoyo is fixed, then you can come back and be the cat's meow all night," Ladybug huffed as he climbed out of Atem's arms

"Ooh are you volunteering M'Lady~? I promise to only leave _love marks_ ," he teased, flexing his claws

Ladybug actually seemed more fond of his teasing than usual for some reason, but... there was an air of somberness beneath it too

"We need to transform back, before those losers find their way out of that dungeon,"

"Rig- .. dungeon?"

"Don't ask,"

Sighing, Atem only nodded

He hated to leave Ladybug in such a vulnerable position, but he knew by now that there was nothing he could do to convince Ladybug to allow the two of them to share their identities with eachother

".. Alright, then I bid you aidou M'Lady, may we meet again sooner rather than la-"

"Wait, Chat," Ladybug insisted suddenly, taking Atem by the wrist

"Yes?"

"What you said earlier about- ....... you're right, you're my partner and I trust you, right now I'm... incapable of protecting myself the way I usually can so .. you were right, we need to retreat,"

"Isn't ... that what we're doing...?"

"No I mean... _really_ retreat, until my yoyo is fixed we're screwed, even if Tora can neutralize the Akuma, we're facing the possibility of being flooded with Akumatized people until my yoyo is back in working order, and Tora can't handle all of that, no one person can, not without the power to actually purify these things,"

"Ok....?"

"Japan isn't safe right now, not for us... not for anyone, if we're not here then Hawkmoth will have no reason to Akumatize people, our best option right now is to run and keep running until my yoyo is fixed, then we'll come back ... and kick some _serious_ ass,"

"Alright, and I'm taking it that you have a plan for this?"

Ah... his ring was starting to beep though, he was about to time out..

"I do, but ... we can't exactly fly to another country together and stay in costume 24/7,"

Was... he... offering what Atem thought he was offering?

"Are you saying-"

"Tikki," he said slowly, locking eyes with Atem's

"Spots off,"

Atem watched in utter amazement as the ladybug printed suit began to disappear, slowly revealing inch after inch of his favorite person's true identity beneath

He was so enamored with the process, that he didn't even notice his own Miraculous timing out, his own leather suit beginning to fade away and reveal who he really was

....

He certainly wasn't expecting what was beneath

"Mr. Kaiba...?"

"Atem!?"

.............

"So does this mean you didn't need those starter earrings after all?"

~+~

"Listen, about earlier... I ah... I hope it's ok, that I- ... kissed you, I know it wasn't with permission and now that I know that you work for me it can be pretty-"

" _Seto_ ,"

Yes, Seto had granted him permission earlier to call him that

They were currently standing in the airplane hanger, about to board Seto's private jet

Mokuba had agreed to take care of company stuff for a few days and, thankfully, hadn't asked any questions

It was still taking some .. getting used to

The fact that Atem- who he was absolutely in _love_ with- was also Chat Noir- his partner and most trusted companion- should have blended seamlessly but .. he still found himself thinking of them as two different people sometimes, even when he was staring right at Atem

"I promise, I didn't mind that kiss," Atem said softly, leaning up and giving Seto a gentle kiss of his own, effectively turning his partner's face as red as his ladybug costume

"I still feel the same way about you, you know," he note as he began boarding the jet

"I always liked you Seto, but you would never let me get close enough to feel more than that, knowing you're Ladybug though, who I am _head over heels_ in love with.... it doesn't change anything for me, it only means that I get to love all of you now, if you'll ever let me,"

Seto swallowed, following him onto the plane and pausing in the doorway, catching Atem's cheek and leaning in closer

"I - .... promise me that this isn't going to cause any issues at work? _Either_ of our works..."

"I promise, M'Lady, our partnership in both of our feilds can only grow stronger with the advancement of our relationship, you have my word,"

"Good,"

Not bothering with anything else, Seto leaned forward, tasting Atem's lips for the second time

Needless to say they were much sweeter now that he didn't have Puppeteer controlling him...

They stood for a moment, drinking eachother in, finally basking in eachother's pressence and really knowing all of who they were dealing with, before Atem finally pulled back and wrapped his arms around Seto's neck

"Come on, we'll have plenty of time to make up for our lost moments, let's get comfortable, it's probably going to be a long trip,"

"Can't be any longer than some of the ones I went on with my adotive father," Seto snorted, one arm still around Atem's waist as he guided his ... _partner_ \- huh, that really was an all encompassing word- towards the seats and sitting down comfortably with Atem at his side

"Mm, yes... the original owner of Kaiba Corp, didn't you say once that he was ... abusive ...?"

"Highly, and batshit fucking crazy too, the things he did for power, no matter how much it screwed over his sons..."

He paused, shaking his head and sighing

"You know, if I didn't know for sure that he was dead, I would actually think he was Hawkmoth, _that_ is how evil he was,"

Oh Seto, little do you know

"Well, he's gone now, and we have a break from Hawkmoth until your kwami is done mending your yoyo and we can purify this Akuma, so let's enjoy the trip wile we can, hm, _lover_?"

Seto actually found himself smiling, buckling his seatbelt- and Atem's- as the engine began roaring to life, and he leaned in to give Atem another affectionate kiss

Now that they had started, it was kind of hard to stop

"Yes... for once you're right, _mon chaton_ ,"

Atem purred playfully, his lips curved up into a grin as he leaned against Seto's shoulder and watched the veiw as they left the hanger and began slowly ascending into the air

"Goodbye Domino, hello Paris..."

**Author's Note:**

> Lore guide in order of appearances:
> 
> -"M'lady" and "Bugaboo" are straight from the show, and are frequently what Chat Noir calls Ladybug
> 
> -"Lucky Charm" and "Cataclysm" are the special one-time-use powers that Ladybug and Chat Noir have, after using their powers once, their Miraculouses (the things granting them their powers) time out and they transform back to normal within about five minutes
> 
> -Hawkmoth is The Big Bad who brainwashes people to become supervillains via a power called "Akumatizing", wich infects butterflies with evil energy, they then infect the person in question by possessing an object special to them, Ladybug has the power to "de-evilize" Akuma and turn them back into normal butterflies, Hawkmoth's motive is to possess the ladybug and cat miraculouses for ultimate power
> 
> -Kwami are the little creatures that possess the Miraculouses (wich take the form of jewlry, earrings for Ladybug and a ring for Chat) and give superheroes their powers, they're chibi-ish and can appear and disappear at will; Ladybug's Kwami is Tikki, Chat's is Plagg
> 
> -Miraculouses can only operate with the use of their activation/de-activation phrases- "Spots on!"/"Spots off!" for Ladybug, "Claws out!"/"Claws in!" for Chat
> 
> -It has come to my attention that Seto asking about Bombshell's motive and the butterfly turning pink seem sexist, but that's just how it is in the show, all de-evilized butterflies are pink, and villains often have rediculous motives like not-actually-cheating spouses and bad hair-dos
> 
> -"Lucky Charm" brings an object out of a pocket dimension that can help Ladybug defeat the villain of the moment, by using "spot vision", Ladybug can see what the object needs to be combined with to work
> 
> -"No more evil doing for you little Akuma"/"Bye bye little butterfly" are Ladybug's catch phrases, modified for someone more uh.. monotone
> 
> -Hawkmoth, in the original, is Chat Noir's father and kind of reminds me of a very PG Gozaburo, so that's a bit of a reference at the end, also the original takes place in Parish (thus the French) wich was another wink-nudge
> 
> That should be it but if I missed something just drop a comment and I'll explain it :)


End file.
